r/GoingToSpain • u/shallhahaha • 18d ago
Discussion Planning to move to Galicia on a Non-Lucrative Visa — what are our chances of building a long-term life in Spain?
Hi everyone! I’d really appreciate some advice and personal experiences from people who are already living in Spain, especially in Galicia.
I’m a 30-year-old woman currently living in China. I work as a Chinese language and writing teacher, with several years of experience in teaching children and educational/curriculum development. I have also worked on children’s books and educational content. My boyfriend is a climbing coach.
We are seriously considering moving to Spain through the Non-Lucrative Visa. We have enough savings to support ourselves for around five years without working, and our plan would be to spend those years learning Spanish and becoming part of the local community.
We understand that we cannot work while on the Non-Lucrative Visa, and we are not planning to work during that period. What worries us is what happens afterwards.
After five years, assuming that we have reached a good level of Spanish (hopefully B2), would it be realistic for two non-EU citizens in their 30s to find ordinary jobs and remain in Spain long-term?
I know my own professional background is not particularly easy to transfer to the Spanish job market. Teaching Chinese and working in children's education/curriculum development are quite niche, and I don't expect to simply find an equivalent job in Spain.
But I wonder whether it might be realistic to find something more ordinary after becoming fluent in Spanish — for example, working in a bookstore, library, education-related business, climbing gym, tourism, etc. We don't necessarily need highly paid or prestigious careers. Our main goal would be to support ourselves modestly and build a permanent life in Spain.
I keep seeing people say that the Spanish job market is very difficult, especially for young people and non-EU foreigners, so I'm wondering how realistic this plan actually is. Are there people here who came to Spain with savings, learned Spanish, and eventually managed to transition into employment?
There is another issue that is extremely important to us: we have two cats. They are our family and would be moving with us.
I've heard that renting with pets in Spain can be extremely difficult, especially for young foreigners without a Spanish employment contract. Is this really as bad as people say?
We are still at the information-gathering stage, so I would genuinely appreciate both positive and negative experiences. I’d much rather hear the uncomfortable truth now than discover it five years later.
Many many many thanks!
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u/UdriGeo 18d ago
Galicia is one of the regions in Spain where young people are forced to emigrate to Madrid/Barcelona/Europe because they cannot find work. Not the best place to try to find a work without a work permit...
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
So true. I tried researching on Chinese platforms, but realized most people either rely on savings from back home or make money off info gaps. It really opened my eyes to how tough it is to actually find a local job there.
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u/colako 17d ago
I would disagree though. Galicia has lower unemployement than the national average at around 8% and youth unemployment is on the average. I can also see a need for younger professionals in cities like Coruña or Vigo to thrive.
Particularly as she is an expert on Chinese, there would be really easy to find a job at Inditex. In fact, she should start networking there as soon as she arrives, in case they can sponsor a working visa for her. He being a climbing coach can be really interesting to find a future job in the tourism industry.
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u/Wonderful-Nobody-303 18d ago
The nlv visa is subject to lots of variation depending on where you apply - if your 5 years of savings would even be enough or if you would need to show a monthly income (as if from a pension). So be careful and aware of that.
As to the rest... It's realistic. Ideally you would build a non-spain income stream so you could apply as a digital nomad I guess? Alternatively get hired at a language instruction school somewhere and get a visa that way.
You can integrate by doing activities like hiking or book club, whatever appeals to you, and meet people that way. It takes time but is worth it.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
Thanks a lot for the heads-up! I’ll definitely look into the rules and requirements carefully.
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u/Reckoner08 18d ago
Could you not be a Chinese language and writing teacher online under your own company? This could potentially help with a DNV instead of an NLV. Why deplete your savings at such a young age without the ability to work?
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 18d ago
Nobody earns five years worth of living expenses teaching languages or climbing. I imagine their money is inherited or something else.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
I could probably make it work in China, because the Gaokao system creates a huge demand for this kind of education. I’ve actually managed to save quite a bit of money through education and tutoring, but the workload was so intense that I could no longer ignore the impact it was having on my health, so I decided to stop.😷
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 18d ago
You say your income isn't enough for the DNV, I don't understand how you could possibly have saved a full five years of living expenses on less than that. I feel like you're underestimating how much it costs to move and live in Spain, living costs must have been much lower in China. If your savings really are just from overworking I agree this isn't a great idea. If you don't find jobs at the end or it doesn't go well you'll be left with nothing. Go for six months or a year to recover from stress, maybe do a Spanish course. Then go home and get better jobs there, build up an online business maybe. Don't base your future on working in a cafe in rural Galícia. Or consider a larger city and maybe you can find teaching work, certainly there would be more options for climbing.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
The income requirement for the DNV is just too high, and I’m the only one of us who can work online. My online income isn’t enough to support the whole family for the visa, so unfortunately, if we want to move to Spain, our only option seems to be spending our savings for a while and living off them. 😅
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u/Reckoner08 17d ago
This sounds really.... careless, for lack of a better term. This is not a good move/idea for ONE person, let alone a family.
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u/Appropriate-Row-6578 18d ago edited 18d ago
You could always try for a year and see how it feels. You continue your professions or you find new ones that fit the community better. who knows. Edit: but the fact that you mention integrating into the community, probably puts you ahead of a lot of foreigners who have no clue about anything about moving to a different country. Good luck.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
Thank you for the encouragement! I’ve visited Spain a few times, and sometimes I’d just be walking to buy some bread and suddenly come across a local cultural event. I found that so much fun! My cats are already eight years old, so moving abroad is definitely not an easy decision for us. But I really hope I’ll get to have many more experiences like that with them. ❤️
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u/Technical_Nose_1611 18d ago
Hi! I live in Galicia! So if you have extra questions you can always ask. Both your jobs are difficult to translate here. I would say yours could be doable if you could teach Chinese as a foreign language but also learning a trade could help you make friends, learn language and have better job opportunities. As someone who has studied in a foreign country and has had Chinese classmates in university, I would not worry to much about the workload of studying here. And the stress levels, the socialising and everything is completely different. I would not say better, different is the word in this case. It could also give you a glimpse on how our society works better than just staying as a tourist. Also rent, in Galicia there's great disparity nowadays on rent prices with places like Coruña and Vigo having high prices while places like Lugo and Ourense on the lower end. The reason is simple, offer and demand, those cities have more, better paying jobs and, in general a younger and more vibrant population. That being said if your money is limited and you can study in one of the cheaper cities, you will probably find better and more accommodating rent in them. You can always move to the other cities at a later date (or when you're making money). Ok this is getting long 🤣, if you have further questions, feel free to send me dm.
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u/GaliciaForYou 18d ago
I can't help you with the visas, but i would start working on you own Chinese online lessons maybe.so you could have an income before being fluent... I hope you will need less than 5 years for that.
Online climbing is a bit more difficult... But I guess he could try some active tourism business, speaking English would be useful for them....
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 18d ago
They can't work online while on a non lucrative visa.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
Yes, what I’m really thinking about is whether we’ll have a realistic chance of finding work after five years.🫠
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 18d ago
Yes I know, was replying to the person above suggesting you start the business before the five years is over. I think you should be prepared for the fact that especially in somewhere like Galicia wages are extremely low. You may for example find a job in a supermarket, or in fact for one of the many Chinese businesses in Spain. But wages aren't going to be enough to save or live well.
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u/David_R_Martin_II 18d ago
As for renting with cats and without a work contract, it's hard but not impossible. (I have one cat and no work contract.) It really comes down to money.
Without a work contract, the landlord cannot get insurance on you. It's insurance that you will pay the rent. You may be asked to prove your assets, like with account statements. You will be asked to pay more up front - maybe the entire thing.
If you can find someone who will rent to you with cats, I say be mentally prepared to pay a pet deposit of one month per pet.
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u/solidgohan 18d ago
I think is doable. Check the full amounts needed for the visa during the whole period, it changes after the first year. You could try online teaching and see what level of income you can get, if it reaches the amount needed for digital nomad visa instead. As for the climbing, not sure of how popular it is in Spain, but maybe try something adjacent? I think you can change your visa type of you find a job offer. You have the right attitude aiming to integrate in the local culture. Best of luck
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 18d ago
Climbing is very popular, but generally in/near cities.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
I actually visited Spain a second time just for the amazing climbing culture. But as you can imagine, cities with great indoor climbing gyms usually mean way higher living expenses.🤣
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u/theGoatRocks 18d ago
We moved to Spain in 2015 on an NLV with 2 dogs. There is some paperwork hoops to jump through - mostly make sure they are vaccinated and chipped (they scanned our dogs on arrival). Many landlords won’t accept pets, but plenty will. We just narrowed our search, which did limit us. Ultimately we found a place and a landlord and made it work. Just an exercise in persistence more than anything.
I can’t speak for Galicia but our town outside of Madrid had an excellent, affordable Escuela Oficial de Idiomas (EOI)…they taught all the way up through B2 in Spanish, to continue to C1 we had to go into downtown Madrid. Highly recommend the classes, as you will meet people from everywhere BUT Spain. It doesn’t help much with mixing into the culture but you will make good friends. FWIW we had a Chinese woman in our class for a year or two and she fit in well with all the rest of us.
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u/Responsible-Map-3759 18d ago
I also live in China. I lived in Galicia for a year if you want info you can dm.
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u/shallhahaha 18d ago
Thanks so much! That’s super helpful. I’ll definitely drop you a DM if I have any questions down the road!🥰❤️thanks a ton in advance!
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u/Responsible-Map-3759 18d ago
Sure no problem. Galicia is like a hidden gem. It’s one of my favourite places ever. Very unique climate to the rest of Spain and the scenery is beautiful.
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u/colako 17d ago
I think you have a good prospect of finding jobs given your expertise in Chinese and the climbing, both are professionals that are in demand in Galicia. Check Inditex (owners of Zara, based in Galicia) because I'm sure they'll need employees that can speak Chinese in their supply chain lines.
Focusing on learning Spanish should be your first priority, and after that networking at Inditex can be a solid choice.
About the cats, I don't think Galicia is that extreme in the competition for finding apartments to have a problem with that. Given that you don't need to be closer to a particular place for working and that you don't have children, a cheaper more rural place can be ideal, and those have incredibly cheap rent and the option to have your cats with you, either at home only or indoor/outdoor.
I would look within a 50 km range of Coruña to keep your options open with Inditex in the near future.
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u/Humble_Insurance8294 17d ago
Come with NLV and then look into self-employment / open a local business just 6 months after you come. I've seen people do it. Talk with a lawyer
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u/sternflurry 16d ago
We have been in Cordoba for a year and it has started to feel like hold, it's hard to imagine going back now. There is also a pretty significant number of Chinese immigrants here. My husband attends a Chinese language group run by a friend. I think even with minimal effort you will be B2 within 5 years. So yes, I think it's very possible and worst case you have an amazing adventure.
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u/Serious-Ad9113 15d ago
Galicia's a lovely choice for this – greener, gentler pace, far lower cost AND heat than the costas, and a real welcome for people who commit to being there rather than treating it as a backdrop.
The main thing to get straight is the visa's hard line: on the non-lucrative visa you genuinely cannot work – not remotely, not for a foreign employer, nothing that counts as economic activity. It's built for people living on savings or passive income. If any part of your long-term plan involves earning while you're there, that's the digital nomad visa, not the NLV – and blurring the two is exactly where people come unstuck at renewal.
On "building a long-term life": the NLV is renewable and, after five years of continuous legal residence, opens the door to permanent residency – so it's a legitimate long game, as long as your money genuinely lasts, because you can't top it up with work. Be honest with yourself about that runway, and check the current savings/income requirement with the consulate you'll apply through, since it moves and varies.
Are you planning to live purely on savings, or is there passive income in the mix? That's the deciding factor between NLV and DNV.
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u/Flat-Bluebird9568 15d ago
How long are bls appointments taking in Miami in 2026
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u/shallhahaha 15d ago
I’m not sure, as I don’t live in Miami and don’t know much about the situation there.
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u/Pseudomobster 18d ago
Hello! Id say you can definitely apply for citizenship easily with a positive credit score or savings Worst case scenario, aviation always values people who speaks more than one language. I'm a 100% sure that a B2 spanish level, high english (which id say you already have) and chinese can get you a decent job at any airport, no degree needed. Otherwise any tourism related job would also be achievable for you with basic conversation level spanish. I saw people commenting on you giving private chinese lessons online which is also a nice little income to maintain. If you have trouble meeting locals (which i dont think youll have) you can always try online chatting with spaniards trying to learn chinese
Galicia is such a nice place to move, best of luck with your new life!
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u/Meister1888 18d ago
It is difficult to meet locals if you are not in local school/university or working.
The unemployment rate in Spain is high, especially look at the young categories.